AMD "Phenom".. Anything BUT Phenomenal..

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Nid Hogge

AMD "Phenom".. Anything BUT Phenomenal..

Post by Nid Hogge »

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... spx?i=3153

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/AMD ... 0FX_RV670/

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/19/ ... s_its_web/

So after all the hype around Phenom/Barcelona and it's "true" quad-core approach, we end up with this:

* Slower clock per clock
* Uses more power
* Costs more than Q6600 while performs worse
* Paper Launch?
* Low Frequencies
* Limited Overclocking

Edit: btw, here's Deep Fritz 10 Scaling with the new CPU's .. http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/19/ ... age31.html .. So for computer chess Intel still has the better and faster platform.
Anand : The problem is, and I hate to ruin the surprise here, Phenom isn't faster than Intel's Core 2 Quad clock for clock. In other words, a 2.3GHz Phenom 9600 will set you back at least $283 and it's slower than a 2.4Ghz Core 2 Quad Q6600, which will only cost you $269. And you were wondering why this review wasn't called The Return of the Jedi.
Hardocp: Let’s Just Say It
It has been a long road for the computer enthusiast that looks to AMD for solutions. There is no other way to put it; I am disappointed in AMD’s Phenom. The Phenom is nine months late to market and has a hard time keeping up with Intel’s Core 2 processors when it comes to a clock to clock comparison. While you can cherry pick a suite of benchmarks that might give a Phenom to Core 2 comparison a good look on a clock to clock basis, the fact is Intel has better instructions per clock and better scaling than AMD’s Phenom
:cry: :? :?
Not looking good for AMD... not at all. Conroe already is faster and Penryn will only extend the lead(Not to mention Nehalem!). They really need to bump up the Freq. and that does not seem likely with all the problems they are having now. TLB errata prevented them launching 2.4Ghz or faster parts, probably until late Q1 08, and countless bugs on the chipset/BIOS.

FiringSquad sums it pretty well..
This is the exact same position AMD was in roughly two years ago – boy how quickly things have changed…
tano-urayoan
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Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Re: AMD "Phenom".. Anything BUT Phenomenal..

Post by tano-urayoan »

This was the conclusion from Tom's Hardware site :
"Slower, But Cheaper Than Intel's Smallest Quad-Core"

"AMD seems to have done its homework when the company set the price for its Phenom processors. The Phenom 9600 is about 13.5% slower than Intel's Q6600 in our benchmarks. On the other hand, its price is also 13.6% lower than that of its direct competitor. Thus, the two products offer practically the same performance for your money.

The advantages of the Spider platform are that you won't need to buy a new board for future processors , that you can upgrade it to use up to four graphics cards and that the platform is future proof thanks to its support for PCIe 2.0.

Looking into the future with the Spider platform, AMD seems to be the less expensive than Intel, since the chip giant has already announced that its current high-end platform X38 will be incompatible to the next generation of high-end CPUs at the beginning of next year. In the end, if you're looking to make the most of a long-term investment, AMD is without a doubt the better platform choice."
Nid Hogge

Re: AMD "Phenom".. Anything BUT Phenomenal..

Post by Nid Hogge »

The conclusion from Tom's is probably the only one who has something positive to say all in all about Phenom.
Just look at the reviews yourself..

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/597/1/

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/ha ... eview.html

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 301,00.asp

Not saying his biased or anything, but all the other reviews draw different conclusions.

Besides, he's wrong on the pricing.
"In closing, the AMD Phenom Processor 9600 (2.3GHz) and 9500 (2.2GHz) are now available for $283 and $251 respectively in 1,000-unit pricing "
The Q6600 is MSRP 266$, this is not "13.6% lower than that of its direct competitor". Both models will be slower, and with less oc ability. will probably use more power as well.

Now don't get me wrong, it's overall a good chip, but it comes late, and it simply not enough to overpower it's equilivant. I hope AMD can iron out the bugs and release a better revision(B3).
Erik Roggenburg

Re: AMD "Phenom".. Anything BUT Phenomenal..

Post by Erik Roggenburg »

The price sensitive, less dorky populace may still go AMD if it saves $$. The big thing is going to be AMD's partnerships with OEMs like Dell, etc.

I'm still going to buy Intel later next year. I'm itching to see what the Nehalem family can do.